TAVOUR BLOG

Goodlife Brewing and Ale Apothecary share more than a building -- they’ve shared a loading dock, helped each other out with nitrogen brewing projects. They now share in a collaboration that perfectly encapsulates these two very different brewers -- the Brett Lager.

Goodlife is an easy-drinking ale specialist. This year they scored the biggest medal in the session beer world -- the GABF gold for their Pale Ale! Ale Apothecary is an oak-aged Sour/Wild Ale specialist that’s obsessed with using wood as much a possible in their brewing. These two worlds, session and sour, are brought together in Brett Lager by combining a crisp and light Dortmunder Lager with Ale Apothecary’s proprietary yeast and sour cultures aged in wine barrels.

Ale Apothecary hasn’t done a lager before, so this stylistic base gives a novel bright framing for the multi-tiered lemon and apple funk of their house culture.

The fusion of Wild Ale and Lager is at the forefront in hybrid style innovation, but it’s also a testament to the ever-growing friendship of these two brewers. Goodlife started out the relationship on a generous foot, letting Ale Apothecary move in right next door even though they have a non-competition agreement with the landlord prohibiting other breweries from joining the building. As the goodwill between these breweries continues to grow, we hope to see more collaborations that explore the overlap between delicious pound-it-by-the-pint-beers and intricate slow-sipping Wild Ales.